THE CORPORATE LIFESTYLE

Before all of this, I used to be a Marketing and Events Advisor for an international company in the automotive branch. Just like everyone else in the industry, I felt passionate about my job. Passionate. Don’t you just hate it when people say that? Admit it, it’s lame. By the way, if I ever feel passionate about something,

it’s gonna be life.

That job used to be pretty amazing and my employer always treated me in a proper and correct manner. I was kind of a workaholic back then. Even now, one of my biggest struggles in life and work is knowing when to turn off my engine. Still, the first feeling when I left, was one of great relief.

The problem wasn’t my good will or my drive to make things happen. By the end of 2012, roughly ¾ out of the original marketing budgets, were no longer accorded to our local department in favor of the larger markets. A logical strategy, only as a “passionate marketeer” I was left behind to take care of the bullshit jobs and however the creative efforts you made and how they contributed to the overall progress and functioning of your organization, they became negligible.

So why do my best?

In times of prosperity and opportunity, working up to 60 hours per week and having no private life, didn’t bother me at all. I was even incredibly grateful and felt spoiled that I had the chance to express my creativity in this exciting marketing function. But when times changed, and there was no more room for creativity, even 40 hours a week became too much. The typical ailments came to the surface. Suddenly the daily commute bottled me up and I started loathing the island, the office walls, the lack of a social life and the little prospect the job provided.

In the end, the corporate life left me wondering about personal development, significance and a framework that would allow me to determine when, where and how I worked.